Missing

Torture

     Groaning, she lifted her head and slowly opened her eyes. She was still tied up to the pole, and she was dressed in a small tank top and short shorts. They had stripped her down from her gear, leaving her nothing to escape with. Besides, even if she did have something to help her, she wasn't sure that she had the strength or energy to do that.
     She stretched her body as best as she could in the uncomfortable ropes, wincing in pain. Her whole body was covered in bruises, and slashes. All of her fingers were broken, and she was pretty sure that she had a couple of fractured ribs. Each breath rattled her lungs, every so often she coughed up blood. She had a couple of burns, and her face would no longer be smooth because of all the scars that would now be there. But that was just Slade's idea of fun.
     She was going to die here. She knew that she wouldn't be able to save herself. Her father, Ra's Al Ghul was dead, all of the other members of the league of assassins thought that she was dead; that left one other option. Damian. She knew that Slade would almost kill her, and contact her son. Probably tell him to come alone. He would then come, and Slade would kill her in front of him. And then he'd kill Damian.
     Sighing, she closed her eyes, taking as deep a breath as her rattling lungs would let her. When she opened her eyes, she saw Slade. Screaming, she widened her eyes as Slade brought a dagger with force to her chest, her blood seeping out around in. He started to twist the dagger, so that it was more painful, and her screams intensified as he-
Damian woke up screaming. As soon as he realized that it was just a dream, he sat up and hugged his knees. He really needed to stop that; screaming every time he had a nightmare. He wasn't some little kid. He was supposed to be tough! He was Damian Wayne.
Tough or not, tears leaked out of his eyes. Why was he doing this? Why was he acting so insensitive? He got up and walked to the door out into the hallway. He didn't even know what he was doing until he stopped outside of Dick's door. He stood still deciding what to do. Before he could decide otherwise, he knocked on the door.
He waited for almost a minute. He was about to walk away, but before he did he heard a groggy, "Come in."
Damian opened the door and peeked his head in. Dick was lying on his bed in his pajamas. When he saw who it was, he smiled.
"Hey little D. Come in." Damian walked through the door and closed it. He took a few more steps to the half asleep boy and just stood there. When Damian got closer, Dick could see the tear stains that had made their course down Damian's face. Dick's smile immediately got wiped off. He sat up and held his arms open and Damian walked into his embrace.
"Was it a bad dream?" Damian nodded, burying his face into Dick's chest. If it hadn't been so late at night, and if Damian didn't feel so miserable, there was no way in hell that he'd be doing what he was doing right now.
"Tell me about it." Something about Dick's voice was so soothing, his arms wrapped around him made him feel safe and secure. So Damian sat down by him and told him every single gruesome detail, from the torture, to the way the dream ended. When he started crying, Dick just held him tighter, which strangely made him feel better. Dick was very good at listening. It was so strange, opening up to someone. Actually showing emotion... wasn't too bad.
When Damian was done talking and the tears slowly subsided, Dick got back under the covers and patted the area in front of him. Damian crawled to the spot, and scooted under the covers. Dick draped his right arm around him, and Damian quickly fell asleep in the warmth. In the morning, Damian would be amazed that that had been his first dreamless night in a long time. But for Dick? Well Dick would be exhausted because he had spent all night wondering why Damian kept having these dreams and what they meant.

...

Yawning, Damian sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He looked at his surroundings, surprised. Why was he in Dick's room? Then suddenly it all flashed back and he remembered the nightmare that he had.
     He had a dreamless night as soon as he fell asleep with Dick. And for the first time in weeks, he actually felt refreshed. He looked over at the sleeping body next to him. He was lightly snoring, his chest rising and falling with each breath he took. Damian stayed there for a second, and then as quietly as he could he went downstairs.

...

     Stretching, Dick sat up. He then looked around alarmed. Where was Damian? He had come and slept in his room last night. Why? Oh. The dream. Dick's mind flashed back to Damian's gruesome description of his dream and shuddered. Bruce would want to know. He got up and got dressed, and made his way to the batcave.

...

      He walked through the doorway of the batcave  and found Bruce dressed up in front of the computer. Bruce took off his cowl and rubbed his eyes; he looked stressed, and tired. Dick watched Batman for a second, and then stepped forward and made Bruce aware of his presence.
     "Dick."
     "Bruce." The two men acknowledged each other. Dick stepped a little closer so that he was looking directly into Bruce's eyes.
     "Damian woke me up last night in tears."
      "What?!" Batman's face looked surprised for a moment, then smoothed out to his normal 'I don't feel anything' face.
      "What was the matter with him?"
      "He had another dream... but this one was morbid, even for Damian."
       "How so?" And so Dick told him about the dream, and with each detail, Bruce's frown deepened.
      "And the dream ended with Slade twisting a dagger into Talia's chest." Bruce sighed, and rubbed his eyes again almost childishly.
      "Alfred was right. I do need some sleep. I'll talk to him when I wake up." Dick nodded. Bruce got up and started to walk away. As he was walking away he said, "Dick, why don't you do something fun with him and try to bond with him more? It's obvious that you're his favorite brother; and he needs someone to be able to talk to freely. If it can't be me, I'd rather it be you." Dick smiled devilishly.
      "I know just the thing."

You know, I've been publishing these last few chapter a lot quicker than I thought I would before I started writing. It's amazing what writing until 2 in the morning can get accomplished 😂
Whenever I can't sleep, I usually write. But when school starts up again, I probably won't be able to publish as fast or as often. Thanks for reading! (Also, sorry for the short chapter. I know a lot didn't exactly happen in the chapter, but the next one should be better 😊